DANIEL ADELíS CAREER BEGAN IN 1984 AFTER HE GRADUATED FROM DARTMOUTH COLLEGE WITH A DEGREE IN ART HISTORY. HE BEGAN PUBLISHING HIS WORK IN VARIOUS NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES WHILE CONTINUING HIS STUDIES IN FIGURATIVE PAINTING AT THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN IN NEW YORK CITY WITH HARVEY DINNERSTEIN AND RON SHERR AS WELL AS PRIVATELY WITH BURT SILVERMAN. HE ALSO WORKED WITH ROBERT MORRIS IN THE MFA PROGRAM AT HUNTER COLLEGE.

IN 1994 HE ILLUSTRATED A CHILDREN'S BOOK WITH AUTHOR JON SCIESZKA, AND SINCE THEN HIS PAINTINGS HAVE APPEARED IN THE PAGES OF THE NEW YORKER, VANITY FAIR, THE NEW YORK TIMES, DER SPIEGEL, FORBES AND ESQUIRE, AMONG OTHERS. HIS WORK HAS ALSO APPEARED ON THE COVERS OF MANY OF THESE MAGAZINES, INCLUDING THE NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY MAGAZINE, NEWSWEEK, AND TIME, FOR WHOM HE PAINTED TWO COVERS IN 2004, ONE OF WHICH WAS THE MAN OF THE YEAR.